alapaca and swift

Cristy · 01-12-2006, 03:31 PM

yippee! I took my first trip to a read YS today--stroked the baby alapaca until the had to ask me to get out of the fetal position and off of the floor (jk!). I also bought a swift to go w/ my yarn winder...I bought a cheap one that is japanese/blue/metal--one of the ladies who worked there said that she uses it and loves it b/c it's more "portable". Anyone else use this same swift? I don't even know how to use the dang thing yet--but you can bet I'll be figureing it out in a couple of hours when I get home from work!

I also bought my Berroco Medley (I got Olive) to use for my toshiko tote! SQUEAL! I'm soooooo exited!

(it's my first "for me" project)!

Ingrid · 01-12-2006, 08:37 PM

*sigh* Alpaaaaaca! Isn't it wonderful? I would imagine that any swift would be decent since it's not used all day, everyday, no matter how much yarn you buy.

WynnieG · 01-12-2006, 09:34 PM

I have a swift of unfinished wood, which I picked up in Maine. It's not a daily use item so what it is made of matters little - if it functions well.

I find mine useful for two things: getting the kinks out of yarn I've frogged out of a project, and for setting up a ball wind. Un-twist your skein, pop it on the swift, make sure all ends are accounted for and arranged, and off you go! I use this with the Royal ball winder.

Cristy · 01-12-2006, 10:03 PM

Originally Posted by WynnieG

Un-twist your skein, pop it on the swift, make sure all ends are accounted for and arranged...

As silly as this sounds...that's what I don't understand--most of my yarn is in a skein, not a hank, how do I *untwist* it exactlY??!?!?

Ingrid · 01-12-2006, 10:44 PM

A swift is used to wind up hanks into balls. If it's already in a skein/ball, then you wouldn't need the swift. You can rewind it if you want, but you'd connect the end of the skein to the ball winder. Some people like to do this with all their yarn. I just do it with hanks or balls that don't pull from the inside or get tangled easily.

Cristy · 01-12-2006, 11:55 PM

ok, I got the ball winder b/c I prefer my yarn in balls instead of skeins--they get tangled easy in skeins (I think). When I got the ball winder, it says that you need to first put your yarn on a swift before winding into balls. I just prefer balls to skeins and that's what I'm trying to accomplish. Does this mean I need to pull all of the yarn from the skein and wind it on to the swift and then wind from the swift to the winder?? make sense??

Ingrid · 01-13-2006, 12:01 AM

I understand what you are saying. I don't think it's necessary to unwind it to rewind it. Someone around here had a great idea of putting the ball under a large measuring cup with the yarn coming out the spout and then attaching the end to the ball winder and rewinding it into a center pull ball.

I've rewound skeins just by holding them, too.

Cristy · 01-13-2006, 12:04 AM

brilliant! I'm going to go play with all of it now and see what I figure out.

Thanks for your help!

KellyK · 01-13-2006, 12:28 AM

I pull the center strand from my skein and let the skein sit on the clean floor or roll around inside my empty knitting bag while Im winding it.

Cristy · 01-13-2006, 02:38 AM

thanks--dh and I have been winding away--I've experimented several ways and then we started winding the noro I'm using and ran into a knot! dh just figured it out so we're off to winding again! Thanks again for all of the tips.